Anti-friction release plate

ABSTRACT

An anti-friction release plate especially suitable for providing improved release reliability to a ski release binding. A plate mounted on a ski and having rollers rotatably secured thereto so as to provide an anti-friction release to a boot in contact therewith is provided. A boot is inserted in the binding so that the sole thereof is in contact with the release plate and upon the exertion of excess lateral forces thereon is easily pivoted out of the binding means of the anti-friction plate as the binding opens.

United States Patent Spier et a1.

ANTI-FRICT ION RELEASE PLATE Inventors: l. Martin Spier, 50 Park Ave., New York, NY. 10016; Frank B. Vener, 98 Westport Ave., Norwalk, Conn. 06851 Filed: Jan. 28, 1974 Appl. No.: 438,153

US. Cl 280/ l 1.35 C int. Cl. A63C 9/00 Field ofSearch ..280/11.35 C, 11.35 Y, 280111.35 K, 11.35 M,11.35 O, 11.35 V, 280/1135 L, 11.35 W, 11.13 W

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1963 De Beausacq 280/1135 D 5/1970 Smolka et al. 280/1135 C Dec. 23, 1975 3,743,310 7/1973 Smolka et al. 280/] 1.35 C

Primary Examiner-Leo Friaglia Assistant Examiner-Milton L. Smith Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Blum, Moscovitz, Friedman & Kaplan [5 7] ABSTRACT plate as the binding opens.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures US. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 FIG.

ANTI-FRICTION RELEASE PLATE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION friction between the boot and the ski often prevents the 1 release binding from effectively operating. To overcome this defect, anti-friction devices have come into use. The various types in use today have had moderate success but the search continues for improved anti-friction devices which are minimally affected by temperature, snow, ice, dirt accummulation, boot pressure, etc. so that the force required to open a release binding, once set, will be relatively constant. It is to this end that the present invention is directed.

SUMMARY or THE INVENTION Generally speaking, in accordance with the invention, an anti-friction release plate for application to a ski to facilitate a lateral displacement of a boot in contact therewith is provided. The anti-friction release plate is constructed to provide a low friction surface which is easily securable to a ski. The plate includes a plurality of rollers in side by side relationship along their longitudinal axes and joumalled on trunions whose diameters are smaller than those of the rollers. A housing includes an opening through which a portion of the rollers projects to define an anti-friction surface. An insert is releasably secured within said housing, the insert including bearing slots rotatably securing the trunions to provide journals therefor. Securing of the release plate to a ski directly under the ball of the foot facilitates release. of a boot under body injuring forces by minimizing friction effects.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved anti-friction release plate capable of facilitating release of a ski boot from a release binding by minimizing the friction effects between boot and ski.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved anti-friction release plate which is adapted for use with any toe and heel release binding.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved anti-friction release plate which is easy to mount, self-lubricating, and resistant to clogging, sticking or freezing.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved anti-friction release plate which will not affeet the flex pattern of the ski.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a fuller understanding of the invention, reference is had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a ski release binding mounted on a ski and including the anti-friction release plate constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the instant invention with a boot being shown in phantom;

FIG. 2 is a plan view, at an enlarged scale, of the anti-friction release plate taken along line 2-2 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 2; FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view taken along line 0 5-5 of FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1, an anti-friction release plate, indicated generally at 10, is mounted to a ski l2 and supports a ski boot [3 which is secured to ski 12 by release binding 11. The anti-friction release plate is disposed generally under the ball of the foot on the ski to facilitate a pivoting of the boot at the heel end thereof when the toe portion of the binding is desirably to be opened to release the boot when excess and body injuring forces can be applied to the skiers leg, ankle,

etc.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 2 through 5 wherein the anti-friction release plate is depicted. The plate includes an insert or member 18 having a bottom surface 25 and arcuate side walls 26. The insert 18 includes bearing slots 17 disposed in side walls 26 for supporting a plurality of rollers 15 journalled in bearing slots 17 by trunions 16 having a diameter smaller than the rollers. The rollers have a uniform diameter and length. The bearing slots are located on the arcuate side walls 26 of insert 18 so that the rollers are disposed in side by side relationship along their longitudinal axes. The plate is completed by a housing 19 which overfits the insert 18. The housing 18 includes an extended surface 27 which surface defines an arcuate opening 21 through which the rollers project to define an arcuate anti-friction contact surface. The extended surface 27 is in contact with the side wall of the insert 18 to close the bearing slots and rotatably secure the trunnions therein. A zero clearance between the bottom surface 25 of the insert 18 and the rollers 15 is provided, the housing and insert materials used being of the type to have a low coeflicient of friction, such as nylon and the like. Finally, a two-sided adhesive tape 23 is provided for securing the insert 18 to the housing 21 to permanently secure the rollers therein, and is further adapted to secure plate 10 to ski 12 at the desired position (FIG. I) on the ski. The unit would be supplied with release paper over tape 23 to preserve the cleanliness of the adhesive prior to use.

In operation, plate 10 is positioned on the ski rearwardly of the front binding. The plate is secured to the ski 12 by the adhesive layer 23. If a more permanent securing of the plate is desired, it is understood that holes 24 can be provided in the plate 10 to allow screws to afiix the plate 10 to ski 12. After the plate is mounted, the bindings are properly adjusted to receive the boot and adjust the binding opening force in relation to the skier's weight and ability. Once the bindings are adjusted, the release plate of the present invention should promote consistency of operation.

It is understood that the zero clearance between the rollers and the low coefficient of friction surface 25 of the insert eliminates clogging, sticking and freezing of such elements as well as rendering such rollers selflubricating. It is further understood that the simplicity with which a plate constructed in accordance with the instant invention can be mounted to a ski renders same usable with all toe and heel release bindings presently popular. Moreover, the provision of direct contact of the boot with the surface of the rollers in the manner disclosed herein, minimizes the friction between the surfaces, regardless of the load condition applied.

Additionally, the arcuate positioning of rollers 15 aids lateral movement of the toe portion of the boot during opening of the toe piece of the binding as lateral twisting of the boot tends to cause the boot to move arcuately about the heel piece of the binding.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

What is claimed is:

1. An anti-friction release plate for skiing comprising a plurality of rollers, roller support means including a one-piece support plate for supporting said rollers in side by side spaced relation and journal means cooperating between said rollers and roller support means for journalling said rollers for free rotation in said roller support means, each of said rollers having an external surface and said roller support means having an opening through which said external surfaces project to define a rolling surface for engagement by the sole of a ski boot.

2. An anti-friction release plate as claimed in claim 1, wherein said journal support means are disposed along an arcuate path and said opening is arcuate, to define an arcuate anti-friction surface.

3. An anti-friction release plate as claimed in claim 1 wherein a lengthwise portion of each of said rollers is in substantially friction-free contact with said support late.

p 4. An anti-friction release plate for skiing comprising a plurality of rollers, roller support means for supporting said rollers in side by side spaced relation, said roller support means including a member for supporting said rollers and a housing defining said opening, said housing including a recess therein for receiving said supporting member and journal means cooperating between said rollers and roller support means for journalling said rollers for free rotation in said roller support means, each each of said rollers having an external surface and said roller support means having an opening through which said external surfaces project to define a rolling surface for engagement by the sole of a ski boot.

5. An anti-friction release plate as claimed in claim 4 including means for securing said member to said housing, said securing means being further adapted to secure said plate to a ski.

6. An anti-friction release plate for skiing comprising a support member having a bottom wall and two opposed arcuate side walls disposed normal to the bottom wall, said side walls further including slots therein, a plurality of rollers having trunnions journalled in said slots in side by side relation to provide free rotation of said rollers in said support member, a housing, including a bottom wall having a recess therein to receive said support member, said housing defining an arcuate opening to allow the rollers to extend therethrough to define a rolling surface, and means for securing said support member to said housing, said securing means being further adapted to secure said plate to a ski.

l i i U i 

1. An anti-friction release plate for skiing comprising a plurality of rollers, roller support means including a one-piece support plate for supporting said rollers in side by side spaced relation and journal means cooperating between said rollers and roller support means for journalling said rollers for free rotation in said roller support means, each of said rollers having an external surface and said roller support means having an opening through which said external surfaces project to define a rolling surface for engagement by the sole of a ski boot.
 2. An anti-friction release plate as claimed in claim 1, wherein said journal support means are disposed along an arcuate path and said opening is arcuate, to define an arcuate anti-friction surface.
 3. An anti-friction release plate as claimed in claim 1 wherein a lengthwise portion of each of said rollers is in substantially friction-free contact with said support plate.
 4. An anti-friction release plate for skiing comprising a plurality of rollers, roller support means for supporting said rollers in side by side spaced relation, said roller support means including a member for supporting said rollers and a housing defining said opening, said housing including a recess therein for receiving said supporting member and journal means cooperating between said rollers and roller support means for journalling said rollers for free rotation in said roller support means, each each of said rollers having an external surface and said roller support means having an opening through which said external surfaces project to define a rolling surface for engagement by the sole of a ski boot.
 5. An anti-friction release plate as claimed in claim 4 including means for securing said member to said housing, said securing means being further adapted to secure said plate to a ski.
 6. An anti-friction release plate for skiing comprising a support member having a bottom wall and two opposed arcuate side walls disposed normal to the bottom wall, said side walls further including slots therein, a plurality of rollers having trunnions journalled in said slots in side by side relation to provide free rotation of said rollers in said support member, a housing, including a bottom wall having a recess therein to receive said support member, said housing defining an arcuate opening to allow the rollers to extend therethrough to define a rolling surface, and means for securing said support member to said housing, said securing means being further adapted to secure said plate to a ski. 